Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate because I see it as addressing accountability. The issue is anchored by the Fine Gael motion about CIE but Dáil reform and accountability of our Ministers and Governments to the taxpayer is fundamental to what we are discussing. Like my colleague, Deputy Broughan, I have some concerns with elements of the motion proposed by Fine Gael. I am uneasy that this is the thin end of the wedge to promote privatisation of our public transport network.

I want to concentrate on the wider aspects of accountability. The lack of Oireachtas oversight of Exchequer funding and policy of semi-State organisations is a fundamental problem. I find it extremely irritating to be at the receiving end of parliamentary questions that are regularly refused by the Ceann Comhairle's office. As a Member of this House for more than ten years, it seems there are more areas for which Ministers are not responsible to this House, and by extension to the people and the taxpayers, than there are areas for which they have responsibility. A conscious decision has been taken by this Government and its predecessors, stretching back to 1997, to abdicate responsibility for the majority of policy and implementation issues. This pervades all aspects of the working of the Dáil. When correspondence on issue is sent to a semi-State organisation or a Department, it can take months to receive a response.

I can cite a number of examples of how this has affected me when I seek information. Last July I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform concerning the cost of Garda drivers and cars for former Taoisigh. I submitted a second question ten days ago and have not received a substantial reply, other than the Minister's statement that it was a matter for the Garda Síochána and the organisation would revert to me. It is interesting that this information was available for publication in one of yesterday's newspapers. Mysteriously, I received a reply yesterday afternoon after the information had been published in a national newspaper. This is no way to do business. It leaves me feeling quite aggrieved that information requested in July became available five months later. One can tolerate a certain time lag but this incubation period seems protracted. One must wonder why this information is not being made available as one might expect.

As Labour Party spokesperson on arts, sport and tourism, I find the problem of lack of response acute. I could wallpaper my office with the number of questions that have been disallowed by the Ceann Comhairle's office. The number of questions I have submitted where the Minister has no responsibility to the House leads me to question what he is responsible for and what work is being done by the Department. This is particularly true when one considers that reports submitted by the Department are undertaken by consultants. I have many examples of questions on quangos that have been disallowed. I submitted a question to the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism asking for his policy direction to Fáilte Ireland and if he would make a statement on the air travel tax and his views on the call by the tourism renewal group to abolish the fee. The reply stated that he had no responsibility for these matters. It appears the Minister has no responsibility for developing tourism policy, nor for addressing the air travel tax that the tourism industry claims is destroying the industry. This is a view backed by the Government's tourism renewal group. The Minister has no responsibility for the horse and greyhound fund, which funds one of the largest elements of his Department's budget and no responsibility to address a major spat between two organisations which received State funding, namely, the Olympic Council and the Irish Sports Council.

In the area of transport, answers are not available on issues raised on the M50 toll booths and the thousands of commuters who have been fined because they have only 48 hours to pay. No issues are addressed with regard to road safety. It is a matter for the RSA even though this body is under the aegis of the Department. During the week, I had a query from somebody about only 48 hours being available to pay toll charges. I understand there must be a time limit but this is an issue the Minister might reasonably take up. He might like to consider that a little time extension might not be out of order for somebody who has great difficulty in finding access to a means of payment. Of course, the individual will end up paying it but it is causing unnecessary hassle.

As the motion states, the current lack of accountability leads to an unjustified democratic deficit at the heart of Government. The Government's counter-motion is typical of this and shows its lack of respect for the House; it is bland and meaningless and does not address the motion in any serious way. Recently, politics has come under intense criticism and scrutiny with people stating that the Dáil is out of touch. Deputies are not out of touch; it is just that the Government Whip and the Ceann Comhairle refuse any real debate and the accountability of Ministers is selective to say the least. Surely a Minister should be held accountable for the actions of semi-State bodies under his or her aegis and to which they provide very substantial funding.

For weeks I have tried to raise the issue of Crumlin Children's Hospital by way of an Adjournment debate but it has been rejected at least six times, including today. We have committees with no power to compel so people such as the public bankers, as they now are, and those suspected of malpractice in semi-State bodies can simply refuse to come before the committee and that is the end of the story.

I am aware that the issues I am raising are not the main thrust of this debate but I consider them to be very fundamental to it and, as I stated at the beginning, using the central issue of CIE is simply an anchor as it really relates back to accountability. In my portfolio, that lack of accountability is very damaging and it is also very disturbing for me not to be able to get the answers for my constituents in a reasonable timeframe.

I asked how many of the questions I submitted to the Minister for Health and Children are answered by her and how many are redirected to the HSE. More than 50% go to the HSE. Again, the thorny questions are whacked aside and we are left wondering if and when we will get an answer. On occasions, I have forgotten the theme of my question or why I needed to ask it before I have received a reply.

To return to the other theme of the Fine Gael motion, I agree with my colleague, Deputy Tommy Broughan, that expecting commercial semi-State bodies to be accountable to the Committee of Public Accounts and under freedom of information legislation could leave them at profound disadvantage vis-À-vis private sector companies.

It is clear from the Baker Tilly report that there were serious lapses in internal controls in Irish Rail. Being a semi-State body is no excuse for lapsed internal controls or anything less than high productivity and efficiency. Any notions of privatisation being the panacea to problems in our transport network is not the way to go. The privatisation of the rail network in the UK has been a disaster with costs for commuters now exorbitant. I have no doubt that private operators would be happy to operate on profitable routes such as Dublin to Galway or Swords to the city centre but on behalf of my constituents I am very concerned that they would not take such a great interest in other routes important to people in Crumlin and Cherry Orchard, for example. Notwithstanding the aspect of the debate on CIE and public transport, I am most concerned about the fundamental question on accountability.

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